Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Wherein I Horrify Toy Collectors

Well, I was out earlier today searching the stores for that elusive blue motorcycle Dorian described in my Arcee post. I checked every Target in town (I even asked to make sure I got them all) but no on had a motorcycle Transformer. I finally found it overpriced on Amazon.

However, it still has a problem. This toy is a blue motorcycle. Arcee is a pink convertible and dammit, I want a pink car! To that end, I've decided to solve this problem the same way I solved my "No Female Green Lantern Toys" problem.

Well, not exactly. Tearing the wings off of a cheap Tinker Bell doll and repainting her as a Green Lantern (results pictured here) isn't quite going to work this time.

(As an aside I'm rather proud of the results on that one. I had trouble getting her to stand, but that's a makeshift never-dry clay base so I can still change her pose whenever I feel like it. I just wish I could get a decent picture that shows the little GL symbol clearly.)

Now, I know that people buy kits and repaint them and rebuild them and put a lot of effort into it. But I'm too cheap and lazy to get that in-depth. Painting is fun and messy, so I can justify doing that much. (Its also why I like Habitat for Humanity when it comes to volunteer work. They always need painters.) I'm going to need to pick out the right kind of modeling paint for the plastic Hasbro is using, something that won't eat plastic that'll probably need to be redone every few hundred shifts, but I am going to buy one of the car Transformer toys and paint it pink!

Right now some poor collector is shuddering in horror at the thought, but seriously, these toys are under 10 bucks right now and common as dirt.

Unfortunately, no one is a convertible (I mean, seriously, how obvious is that? A convertible Transformer!), but I have this one narrowed down to a few toys. I just need some help to decide which one.

1) Jazz. This one's my first thought because this toy is remarkably easy to find around here. I found a lot of them while searching for the motorcycle. The gray color is easy to paint over. He's also the cheapest, coming in at eight bucks at Target. The problem is his robot form is just a little too far from Arcee for me.

2) Bumblebee. The robot form is ideal and the car form is the next best thing to an actual convertible for Arcee's car form. However, this one's a bit more expensive, a bit harder to find, and the yellow plastic bits aren't going to paint as nicely as Jazz's gray. This one's also getting some poor reviews on Amazon.

3) Barricade. It has the advantage of being the one I would buy two of, because I like my Barricade figure too. Unfortunately, this iss a bad guy and his robot form carries that effect.

4) Starscream. Okay, this one is the most expensive so I probably wouldn't want to alter it. But isn't the idea of a pink jet just pure awesome? And I could always just buy two of this one.

Take the silly things out of their boxes and PLAY with them like God intended. It is also fun to pose them in unnatural ways. I have my Kilowog figure permanently bonking Hal over the head with his lantern.

Heehee.

Oh, and paint them the way you want as well. You aren't going to be reselling these things, they are yours to manhandle as you please. (Somewhere, the toy collectors are bursting into tears.)

I absolutely agree sallyp - if you're going to leave it in the box, you might as well leave it in the store! Ragnell - have you considered spray painting it pink? I'm not too familiar with the Transformers toys, but you would just have to tape off the parts you don't want pink and paint the robot body with Testors or something...

Guy creates a bubble around the big robot and then just commands the ring to shrink the bubble, crushing the robot into a handy, compact cube just as if he was an old car. Elapsed time: 5 seconds.

The ring is the most powerful weapon in the universe, let's not forget. Hell, any GL except maybe G'nort should be able to polish off Megatron before her or his morning bowl of OA-os.

As a reformed toy collector (it's amazing how much more disposable income I have for whiskey now) I support the opening, manhandling and repainting of your toys. Enjoy the damn things.

Also, after painting I'd recommend spraying it with several coats of a clear coat sealant. It'll help the paint job keep longer. Especially since, as I suspect, the pink robot might get used as a bludgeon at some point.

(as an aside, Target's getting a pink-and-silver repaint of the same mold a couple waves down the line, as Elita-1)

The only Movie figure we have is Bumblebee ... I only recommend it if you don't plan on transforming it much. The "automorph" gimmick makes it nigh-impossible to "re-attach" the front of the car in vehicle mode.

Finally, if you can stand to wait, Arcee has been confirmed for the new Transformers cartoon coming out next year (voiced by the original actress, even). They haven't released any toy images yet, but there's a good chance she'll be a car this time.

There is always the pink Arcee toy from Energon (later repackaged as Universe): http://www.bwtf.com/energon/toys/arcee/rm1.jpg and on e-bay http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Transformers-Robots-in-Disguise-Arcee-Motorcycle_W0QQitemZ320134825219QQihZ011QQcategoryZ49015QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Hey Dan, Michael answered your question rather neatly. I would have given Megatron about five minutes to be smashed into little pieces by Guy...with one hand tied behind his back, and while simultaneously eating his Cheerios and reading the morning paper.

Hal could have done it too, but he would have been distracted by Arcee.

Sorry to dig up an old post, but I only came across this via Bahlactus' Friday Night Fights.

As a long-term collector of Transformers and appreciator of out-there colour schemes, I must report that there is indeed a pink jet out there. Or rather there would be if he transformed:http://www.tfu.info/1991/Decepticon/Thundercracker/thundercracker.htm

Action Master Thundercracker. A mate of mine repainted a Classics Starscream in this scheme, and following the colours on different parts of the non-transforming dude he is indeed one pink jet. Neon pink, no less. Good old Hasbro UK.

Also, there now does exist a 2" tall custom convertible Arcee figure based on her '86 'The Movie' appearance made in kit form by a fella in Japan. I picked one up at a convention and the moulding is a remarkable likeness. Punch in 'Arcee' in the Action Figures/Transformers section of eBay and you'll probably find one or two.

Oh yeah- don't worry about us collectors when you break out the spraypaint. Customising figures is highly popular among the TF community.

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